


Spring Cleaning

by gxldenskyes



Category: Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24631879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gxldenskyes/pseuds/gxldenskyes
Summary: Sometimes, you need to have a good clear out of your attic full of alien technology.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Spring Cleaning

Rani walked across the street to her neighbour's tall house. Sarah Jane had texted her and asked if she could help her tidy up the attic. Rani couldn't help but chuckle at the text, wondering if the growing alien clutter had finally got to Sarah Jane.

Rani let herself in and headed upstairs to the attic. When she walked in, she was surprised to hear soft music playing on the bluetooth speaker Sarah Jane got for her birthday. She could see Sarah Jane tampering with the speaker, muttering to herself.

"No, I don't want that song." Sarah Jane said quietly, changing the Rolling Stones song to now, a Fleetwood Mac song, "Oh, there we are." Sarah Jane turned back from the speaker and noticed Rani at the door. She wore a long beige cardigan, white t-shirt and baggy mom jeans. Her hair was clipped back and Rani thought it was so nice to see her so relaxed for a change. Sarah Jane smiled, "Hello, you. You ready to get cracking?"

"I am." Rani replied, rubbing her hands together, "Have you already started?"

"Only just on the desk. I woke up early and decided to do some work on a story so I sorted out my desk then." Sarah Jane put her phone down next to the speaker.

"You've got your speaker working." Rani pointed before she turned to Mr. Smith, "Mr. Smith, how long did it take you to get her to turn it on properly?"

"I actually managed very well on my own, thank you very much." Sarah Jane turned up her nose before chuckling, "I need to add more music on it though. I don't even know where I would start."

"Oh, I'll help you, don't worry. Besides, I could add some music I think you should listen to onto it." Rani said.

"You're a star." Sarah Jane tapped Rani's shoulder before going to the bookshelves.

Rani turned when she heard the door of the attic open and Sky walked in. Sky held rolled up bin bags, furniture polish and a cloth as she walked in. She smiled when she saw her older friend finally here, happy to have another person helping her and her mother in the attic.

"Hi, Sky." Rani smiled.

"Hi." Sky replied, "Have you already started?"

"Not yet, I just got here." Rani said before turning to Sarah Jane, "Oh, Sarah Jane, I don't know if he told you but Clyde's coming around a little later. Him and his mum are going out to get him a suit for that wedding he was talking about."

"Yeah, he said." Sarah Jane nodded, "Who's wedding is it again?"

"One of his mum's friends I think." Rani replied, "I think one of her school friends."

"Ah." Sarah Jane said quietly. Sky handed her the bin bags and polish, "Thank you, Sky. Right, let's get started."

The three got started on the attic. They started at the bookshelves, dusting and sorting books into piles. Rani, at one point, added more songs to the playlist Sarah Jane had on her phone. She knew that Sarah Jane would know them or end up liking them when they came on. As they tidied, Sky noticed a photo album.

"Mum?" Sky turned to Sarah Jane as she held the photo album. Sky had taken to calling Sarah Jane 'mum' more and Sarah Jane couldn't deny she loved it, "What's this?"

Sarah Jane looked up and gasped at what her daughter held. She stood up, taking the photo album from Sky.

"This is a photo album." Sarah Jane stroked the cover, blowing the dust off of the cover, "It's like a book that you keep pictures in. Keep record of all your memories." She explained to Sky who was still learning about the world. Sarah Jane sat down on the steps and opened it up, the photo album crackling a little as she opened it. Sarah Jane gasped before chuckling, "Oh my goodness. This is from when I used to travel with the Doctor."

"Really?" Rani gleamed before joining Sarah Jane on the step, Sky sitting on the other side of Sarah Jane. Rani pointed to a photo of Sarah Jane, the Doctor in his fourth incarnation and Harry Sullivan who she heard about from time to time, "Oh wow, look at you there!"

"I know." Sarah Jane laughed, "That was in Bessie, the Doctor's car. Oh, we all have the Doctor's scarf on! The scarf was huge, I was always tripping up on it."

"It's so crazy how different the Doctor looks when he regenerates." Rani said before she looked up to Sarah Jane, "Do you have a favourite face of his?"

"Not really. They're all the Doctor, aren't they?" Sarah Jane replied with a little shrug. She paused for a moment, looking at the Doctor's fourth incarnation in that photo and others on the page, "That was the face I grew fondest of though. I travelled with that incarnation the longest. You would have liked him, he was a little... loopy." Sarah Jane chuckled.

Sarah Jane turned the page and they laughed at the other photos.

"Is that the Doctor too?" Sky pointed at the photo of the older man in a green velvet suit with Sarah Jane.

"Yeah. That's what he looked like when I first met him." Sarah Jane nodded, "He was sort of like James Bond in a sense. He loved all his cars and gadgets."

"Is that Sir Alistair?" Rani asked as she pointed to another photo of Sarah Jane in Bessie. This time she was with two men who seemed to be in the army.

"Yeah, it is." Sarah Jane replied, "That's him and that," She pointed to the other man who stood at the side of Bessie, "Is John Benton. He was lovely."

"Sir Alistair looks so young there." Rani said, "He was quite good looking."

"Yeah, he was." Sarah Jane smiled at the photo, "He was Brigadier then. That reminds me, I'll need to call Kate at some point."

"That's Harry again, isn't it?" Sky asked as she pointed at a photo of a younger man with brown hair and wore a blue blazer.

"That's Harry Sullivan." Sarah Jane nodded with a smile, swallowing down the tears that bubbles in her eyes as she thought of her friend, "You know, he was a doctor in the navy. He saved so many lives." She laughed, "He used to call me 'Old Girl' all the time and it would drive me up the wall."

Rani and Sky laughed with Sarah Jane. They already knew how much other people calling her 'Sarah' annoyed her so they could definitely see her getting annoyed at that. Sarah Jane turned the page as the three looked at more photos.

"Oh wow!" Rani pointed at one of Sarah Jane and the Doctor on a motorcycle, "You're on a motorbike there!"

"Yeah!" Sarah Jane laughed, "That was in Scotland. You remember I told you about the Loch Ness Monster?"

"Oh yeah!" Sky exclaimed as Rani nodded, laughing as she thought back to Sarah Jane's description of the Loch Ness Monster, "Everybody was talking about the Loch Ness Monster yesterday in English and I almost told them about you seeing her."

Sarah Jane laughed before they went back to look at the photo. A silence went over the three, all of them quite relaxed as they looked at the photo. Rani leant on her hand, thinking about how she always thought there was something more to Sarah Jane and the Doctor than met the eye.

"You look so happy in that photo with him." Rani turned to Sarah Jane who looked at the photo still.

"I do." Sarah Jane nodded, "I was very happy with him." She said. A small smile on her face as she thought about all those wild times and how she loved their adventures and him. It came to an end so quickly and so abruptly. Sarah Jane quickly snapped out of her little daydream and got up, "Come on, we need to get the rest of this sorted. How about we look at these photos later? Maybe we'll find more photo albums."

The two teens nodded and they all continued tidying the bookcase. Once they were done with the bookcase, they moved onto the other corner of the attic. Sky polished the table whilst Sarah Jane sat at the wooden desk gathering up papers and other things. Rani stood at the cupboard, sweeping up the floor before moving onto the tall cupboard. When she opened it up, Rani was surprised to see clothes hanging up. Rani knew that Sarah Jane sometimes got ready in the attic but she never expected to see a full wardrobe. As Rani looked at the clothes, a very bright yellow raincoat caught her eye.

"Um, Sarah Jane?" Rani picked up the hanger and turned to Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane lifted her head up, her reading glasses on the tip of her nose. When she noticed what Rani was holding, she gasped before laughing. She pushed her glasses onto her head, going over to her.

"Oh my goodness, I forgot about that!" Sarah Jane stroked the yellow raincoat, "I remember we landed in the year 16087 and it was like a moor and there was a Sontaran doing experiments there."

"Wow." Rani raised her eyebrows, "16087. That's quite a long while away."

"You're telling me." Sarah Jane laughed. She walked over to the wardrobe, "What else is in here?"

Sky joined Sarah Jane and Rani into looking into the wardrobe. Sky took out a light blue corduroy jacket and looked at it.

"Where's this from?" Sky asked, fascinated by the feeling of the fabric on her fingertips.

"That's what I wore when I was in Scotland." Sarah Jane replied, "There should be culottes that go with them actually."

Rani took out a pair of camouflage trousers and held them up to look at them. Sarah Jane turned to Rani as she noticed the trousers.

"Cybermen." She pointed nonchalantly before turning to Sky, "You'd wear those, wouldn't you, Sky?"

Sky turned to look at the trousers.

"Yeah." She nodded as she put the blue jacket back into the wardrobe. Sky then noticed something pink and took it out. It was a pink shirt and trousers that were folded up and hooked onto the hanger. The shirt was like a sailors with the flap collar on it, "When did you wear this?"

"Oh, that was androids." Sarah Jane pointed, "They made android versions of practically everyone we knew. Me, the Doctor, Harry, Benton."

"What's this?" Rani asked as she took out a long white dress. It was quite old fashioned but still very pretty.

"Oh, that was when we met Sutekh." Sarah Jane dusted the fabric gently.

"The Egyptian god of evil?" Sky asked, a little confused.

"Uh huh." Sarah Jane turned, "He was of this race called the Osirans and they inspired Egyptian mythology. We travelled to 1911 and then we went to Mars." Sarah Jane then chuckled, "And then went to the next place."

"It's beautiful!" Rani looked at the dress.

"It's not a wedding dress." Sarah Jane pointed to Rani. She knew what Rani thought of her and the Doctor and whilst there was always something more, she wanted to keep that to herself. At least for now.

"You should try it on." Sky said.

"What?" Sarah Jane asked, "Oh no, I don't think it would fit me now."

"Please, mum." Sky pleaded, "It would be so nice to see."

Sarah Jane thought for a moment before taking the dress from Rani. She chuckled as she turned to Sky, kissing her daughter on the forehead.

"Oh, alright." Sarah Jane said as she went around the folding screen, "But don't be surprised if I can't get the zip up."

Rani and Sky chuckled as they waited for Sarah Jane to try on the dress. They talked quietly to Mr. Smith until finally, Sarah Jane came out from behind the folding screen.

“Right,” Sarah Jane said, “Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Rani and Sky replied in unison.

“Okay.” Sarah Jane said, sounding a little nervous.

Rani and Sky turned as Sarah Jane stepped out from behind the screen. She held the skirt of the dress, trying not to trip up a little. Sarah Jane then pulled down the sleeves a little before taking her hair out of the clip and let her hair fall onto her shoulders.

“What do you think?” Sarah Jane asked, doing a little twirl as she chuckled, “I’m surprised I could get the zip up.”

“You look lovely.” Rani smiled, leaning on Mr. Smith slightly, “Honestly, you could wear that to a fancy party.”

“You think?” Sarah Jane looked up, “I don’t know. I think it looked old even in the 70s. Sky, what do you think?”

“You look really pretty, mum.” Sky looked up to Sarah Jane. A big smile on her face. Sarah Jane chuckled, kissing her cheek softly.

Rani smiled as she watched her friends before her eyes drifted to the wardrobe again. As her eyes looked at the other clothes, a stripey white and red garment caught her eye. Rani frowned as she went over to the wardrobe and took it out. The garment was a pair of dungarees that were white with thin red stripes and three red stars on the chest area. The pockets were lined with red thread and the straps hooked around the shoulders above the stars. On the hanger was a plain red top folded underneath where the dungarees hung.

Sarah Jane looked up to see what Rani held and she couldn’t help but be a little shocked to see the dungarees again. The sight of them instantly reminded her of how she had to leave the Doctor because he had to go to Gallifrey and how she was left in Aberdeen instead of South Croydon. She remembered how Harry had to come pick her up. She must have scared poor Harry with how distraught she was. Sarah Jane noticed the look on Rani’s face and she laughed. Sky turned to look at what Rani held and her eyes widened. That would have been something she would have wore at the age of twelve and not her mum in her twenties.

“When did you wear that?” Sky exclaimed.

“I wore that when I left the Doctor.” Sarah Jane walked over to the dungarees, holding the fabric of the legs, “We got caught in a mine explosion and I found this fossilised hand but I ended up getting possessed by it. When it was all over, the Doctor got a call from Gallifrey so I had to go home.” Sarah Jane started to laugh, “But he didn’t take me home. He left me in Aberdeen. Harry had to come and pick me up, I was in some state.” Rani could see this was still something that upset Sarah Jane. She couldn’t blame her for being so dismissive at times after everything she’d been through, “He must have also thought I was insane for wearing this.”

“It definitely isn’t something I’d imagine you wearing.” Rani nodded.

“Well.” Sarah Jane raised her eyebrows as she chuckled, “Time travel does broaden the mind. More ways in one.”

“You should try this on too.” Rani said.

“Oh no,” Sarah Jane chuckled, “I think we should get back to tidying.”

“I thought you said time travel broadens the mind?” Rani asked.

Sarah Jane looked up to Rani and she knew she wasn’t going to get away with this one. She laughed as she took the dungarees from Rani, going behind the folding screen once again. It was a few minutes before she came out again in the dungarees and red long sleeved top. She could see the surprise in Sky and Rani’s faces and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh my God.” Rani laughed, “To be fair, they actually look really comfy.”

“They are.” Sarah Jane nodded, “Good for running in.”

“You should wear that for our next run in with the Slitheen.” Sky chuckled.

“Cheek.” Sarah Jane nudged her daughter before laughing with her. She then walked in front of Mr. Smith as she showed off her outfit, “What do you think, Mr. Smith? Do you like my outfit?”

“It is very... interesting, Sarah Jane.” Mr. Smith hesitated. For a highly intelligent alien supercomputer, Mr. Smith could not hide his confusion.

“Hey, I was very fashionable, thank you.” Sarah Jane pushed her hair off her shoulder.

Suddenly, the door of the attic opened to Clyde walking in.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Clyde walked in, “I got caught with a...” His eyes widened to see Sarah Jane in her dungarees. To say he was confused was an understatement, “What _have_ you got on?”

“What do you mean?” Sarah Jane looked down to them, “They’re dungarees.”

“You look like Andy Pandy!” Clyde shrieked.

“That’s who you look like!” Rani said with a sense of realisation.

“Who’s Andy Pandy?” Sky asked as Mr. Smith then gave her a rundown of the children’s character.

Clyde walked down the steps to have a closer look at Sarah Jane.

“Did an alien make you wear that? Have you been possessed or something?”

“No! We found it in the wardrobe over there with a few other clothes from when I travelled with the Doctor.”

“You wore that when you travelled with the Doctor?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh God, he must have not liked you that much to let you go around like that.”

“Hey!” Sarah Jane lightly swatted at Clyde’s arm, “I’ll have you know that you would have thought I was very cool if you were around in the 70s.”

“Yeah, I bet I would.” Clyde said sarcastically before changing the subject, “Anyways, guess what alien I got caught with on the way here?”

“If you say Mr. Johnston again, I’m going home.” Rani rolled her eyes.

“Oh shush, you laugh every time.” Clyde went over to her, kissing her cheek before going to sit on the red couch, “But nope! You want a clue?”

“Yes please!” Sky perked up.

“You know what, Sparky, I think you’re my favourite. You laugh at all my jokes, you’re always up for a good alien clue...” Clyde pointed to her.

“Can we get to the point please?” Rani asked.

“Ugh, fine.” Clyde rolled his eyes, “Small, kinda scaley.”

“The Graske, Clyde.” Mr. Smith said.

“Show off!” Clyde shot up, “You probably already knew he was in the street.”

“My sensors did detect the life form on Bannerman Road.” Mr. Smith replied.

“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Sarah Jane turned, her hands on her hips.

“Before I could say, I also detected that Clyde was already handling the situation, Sarah Jane.” Mr. Smith said.

“See? Not just good looks.” Clyde winked.

“How did you get him?” Sky asked.

“Well, I was walking along the street and I saw him running around the alleyway behind your house,” Clyde gestured to Rani, “So I followed him and ended up in Mrs. Frazer’s back garden. Thankfully, I got him teleported back to his shuttle before she saw me jumping the fence and crushing her hydrangeas.”

“Mr. Smith, scan for anything else, just to be safe.” Sarah Jane said.

“Certainly, Sarah Jane.” Mr. Smith replied.

“It looks nice in here, Sarah Jane.” Clyde looked around himself, “You’ve done a good job.”

“Well, we still need to sort out behind the couch and near the window round there so still a far bit to go but we’ve done a good job today, haven’t we?” Sarah Jane put her arm around Rani and smiled to Sky.

“Yeah, we have.” Sky nodded. Sarah Jane and Rani chuckling.

“Right, well,” Clyde shot up off the couch, taking his jacket off and hanging up. He came down the steps as he rubbed his hands together, “Let’s get crack-a-lacking.”

There was a silence between the four of them. Finally, Sky started to laugh, prompting Sarah Jane and Rani to laugh too.

“Never say that again.” Rani shook her head as she laughed.

“Sorry, I was looking after my cousin again last night. He made me watch Madagascar.” Clyde rubbed his forehead.

“You mean, you made him watch it?” Sky walked down the steps, her eyebrow raised slightly.

“Hey, you’ve just been demoted!” Clyde pointed jokingly.

“Right,” Sarah Jane said, “Shall we continue?”

“Yes.” Rani nodded as Sky followed her to the wardrobe.

Sarah Jane was about to follow them when she noticed Clyde looking at her. She turned to him, a little confused.

“What?” Sarah Jane asked. Clyde started to laugh, “What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” Clyde laughed, “I just cannot take you seriously wearing that.”

“Oh, Clyde.” Sarah Jane rolled her eyes.

“Does Luke know that this is how his mum used to dress?” Clyde asked.

“I don’t know but unlike you, Clyde, Luke is not bothered that much about being cool or his mum being cool.” Sarah Jane replied, “Not as bothered as you are anyways.”

“What were you _thinking_ when you bought that?” Clyde asked, his face scrunched up a little.

“Hey, when you’re travelling around time and space with a guy who has two hearts, you’re not thinking about streetcred.” Sarah Jane said, “You have seen what some of the aliens we’ve met wear?”

“I should have known the Doctor wouldn’t have had an issue with it.” Clyde shook his head, “That big long scarf or the bowtie he wore the last time we saw him? He is definitely not the first person I would go to for fashion advice.”

Sarah Jane just laughed. She was lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the jokey bickering her and Clyde had.

“Come on,” Sarah Jane said, “Let’s get this place sorted.”


End file.
